I really wanted to hate this album. I almost bailed out on it after the pompous, boring intro that starts the first song on this CD called That Was Just Your Life, but after sticking with it, and a few forced, repeated listenings, I can honestly say it's not that bad. Miles better than St. Anger, but is that really saying much? A dog taking a shit sounded better than St. Anger. First record for Warner Bros. too, which might explain why the band actually made an effort to make this sound like an older Metallica record than any of their last crappy offerings. They got rid of Bob Rock too, and got Rick Rubin to produce it. Good choice. He's the Man responsible for more career resurrections than Dr. Frankenstein himself.This album is no Master Of Puppets, leaning more towards ...And Justice For All than the Black album. Sure, there's moments of absolute arrogant virtuosity on here, and sure, the songs are still too long, but at least they're long for a reason. They're actually letting Kirk Hammett play some solos on here. I don't think he played even one on their last release. hahahaha Lars drums actually sound like drums again (no more crappy Nu-Metal snare sound for him) and the dueling guitar work will have you marveling in amazement and air guitaring right along with the music. Look, it's a new Metallica album. If you like any of their old stuff, you'll like this. If you like the newer, more popular stuff, you might not dig this new album. Enough said.